Resuscitation plan documentation for medical oncology inpatients: a retrospective study

To determine the frequency and timing of resuscitation plan (RP) documentation among medical oncology inpatients, and to identify factors affecting RP completion.

This retrospective review was conducted for all medical oncology inpatient admissions to an Australian cancer centre in October 2023. RP completion, timing (early or late) and authorship were reviewed. Associations between RP documentation and patient age, sex, disease stage (no disease, local or advanced), timing of admission (in hours or out of hours) and type of admission (planned or unplanned) were analysed.

Of 121 inpatients, 78% had a RP documented during admission, and 51% had RP completion occur within 24 hours. Most RPs were documented by basic physician trainees. Younger patients were more likely to have early RP documentation (60% vs 36%, p=0.013) and completion by discharge (84% vs 66%, p=0.019). In-hours admissions more frequently had a RP completed early (62% vs 38%, p=0.009), with no difference in completion by discharge compared with those admitted out of hours (p=0.939). Planned admissions had higher rates of RP documentation than unplanned admissions (40% vs 19%, p=0.038).

Several patient and system-level factors affect RP documentation for medical oncology inpatients.